SUT advice

Hello!

I live in Athens, Greece.

I have been involved into Hi Fidelity audio reproduction since 23 years ago. It was back in 2002 when I decided to set up a thoroughly new system. At the same time I started studying again electromagnetism in order to refresh my knowledge acquired through my studies as mechanical engineer.

During the last 10 years I have been member of local audiophile clubs and have attended numerous listening sessions at friends' homes mainly. I do not know how many vinyl cartridges I have listened to but it is more than likely to be more than 50!

I am also a professional coil winder and manufacturer of extreme hi fi components. More specifically I'm winding whatever you might think of and of course I'm manufacturing MC step up transformers at ratios 7.5x up to 80x with exactly same frequency response.

As you might well think, I can wind any SUT transfofmer for any MC cartridge that exists. I had wound a 40x SUT and it was already playing at a friend's system, it was driven by a Lyra Parnassus. This cartridge was hands down the best I had ever auditioned. There was also available a Benz Micro TR without the ebony wooden case. It was naked with 1 ohm internal impedance and 0.1mV output. We plugged the Benz TR and I could not sayb that it was better in all aspects, equally good sound but not clearly better.

It then came into my mind the idea to wind a special pair of transformers, dedicated only to Benz TR, with a step up ratio of 80x! That would be the greatest challenge, as nobody in the world designs and manufactures SUTs at such 'extreme' ratios. Under these insane ratios, you must be very careful to the DC resistance of the tonearm wire, as the losses rise by the square of turns ratio.

The pair of SUTs was ready and moved to my friend's house for the first audition with the Benz TR cartridge. It took only one turn of the vinyl for us to be so thrilled like never before. I never remember myself sitting in front of a susyem speechless and completely amazed to that degree!
After my thorough experience in cartridges and SUTs matching, manufacturing etc, all I can say is that

Benz Micro TR cartridge (specially the naked version with gyger diamond but all of them are not that different) combined with a 80x SUT is the best combination I have ever experienced in my life, something that lies into its own world, it is a combination that thrills your mind and captivates your sould like nothing I have ever experienced!

I tried Bob's DEvice's new Sky Cinemag SUT with my Ortofon Anna (.2mv, 4ohm ) into the MM stage of my Zesto Andros.

The SUT was Bob's demo unit with the low output section broken in, but not the high output section.

On high output section, it seemed a little bright and since I have a high gain preamp, I tried it at low output.

The overbrightness went away and I still had more than adequate volume for rock levels at 60 volume level on my preamp. It was an improvement over running directly into my MC stage on the Zesto. Bass was deeper and better defined. Treble was even more airy and there was more space around the instruments.

On Bob's recommendation, I have since gone back to the high gain setting in order to break in that part of the SUT. This yields the lowest possible noise floor as my preamp only needs to be at 40 max for rock level volume.

As I put more time on it, I have noticed the brightness going away, so this will be the setting I leave it on.

I have not AB'd other high end SUTs so can't comment on whether Bob's devices are better or worse, but I can say it's dead quite in my system and the results have been worth the $1250 intro price for the SKY.

petavgeris,

interesting post! do you sell these SUT's or work for a manufacturer? Curious to get more info...this post has me wondering if I should check out a different SUT...I am happy with what I have...but as you say...you never know until you try...thanks

Hello Sunnyboy.

Have you considered building your own? Not from scratch - but buying the transformers, resistors, connectors, and box. Advantages: save a PILE of money, use the components that YOU prefer, and get some real satisfaction from the result. I say this especially in light of Petavgeris' posting.

I use Sowter 8055's (OCC option) with Vishay VAR resistors and Relcap RTE styrene caps for the loading circuits. This improves considerably on the Koetsu SUT and rivals (but not quite equals) the big AN rig (direct comparisons in my own system). My cartridge is a Koetsu platinum (.3mV).

Hi Terry
Many thanks for your response. Any idea how much the DIY kit costs viv a vis some of the SUTs mentioned in this thread ?